


Layers

by RoArts



Series: We're Here for You [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Parents, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Bullying, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Crying, Divorce, Eating Disorders, Homophobia, Hospitals, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Panic Attacks, Physical Abuse, Roman needs a hug, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Serious Injuries, Violence, seriously, there are a few OCs in this too, this fic is just one big trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-07-09 23:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19896484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoArts/pseuds/RoArts
Summary: Roman Reyes. The typical popular kid.He has a girlfriend, tons of 'friends', and he's on the football team. He is, without a doubt, one of the most popular kids in school, and most people that aren't popular hate him because of the people he 'hangs around' with.Everyone thinks that he is just a mindless bully, despite the fact that Roman has never been anything but nice to every single person in that school. But Roman knows that the jocks are ruthless, and if your different, you're a target. That's why no one but Romans brother and his best friend knows he's gay.He seems like he is happy with the way things are, you wouldn't be able to tell otherwise unless you took a second glance at Romans /real/ facial expression.No one notices the bruises.No one notices the scars.No one notices that he's loosing weight.And no one notices his fake smiles.Well, at least that's what Roman thought.What will happen when one of Romans biggest secrets is revealed to the entire school?





	1. Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - This is an introduction to the characters to help understand plot points. Enjoy!
> 
> TW: Divorce, homophobia, abusive parents, self-hate, self-harm, vague mentions of an eating disorder, bullying, panic attack mention. 
> 
> (I think that's it for the TW, but if I left anything out please let me know)
> 
> Also, please do not read this if you think it will make you upset or uncomfortable, the tags and warnings are there to make sure people know vaguely what to expect from this fic. Again, please do not read this if it will upset you.

**Character Profiles:**

\- **Roman Reyes**

¤ Age: 17

¤ Junior Year

¤ Intro: Roman and his brother live with their mother in a small, broken down apartment on the bad side of town. Their parents split up when they were both 14 years old, but they still see both their mother and their father. They visit their father every Friday after school, usually staying the whole weekend. Their parents are extremely homophobic and abusive. As a result of this, Roman has a horrible image of himself, barely eating and not keeping it down when he does, as well as a bad issue with self-harm. He endures all of the abuse himself to keep his brother, Remy, safe. They may be twins, but Roman wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Remy.

He seems like the typical jock, he and his girlfriend are the most popular couple in school, his 'friends' all seniors. In reality, he loves Disney, and Theatre, and most of all, he has a crush on the emo that sits at the back of all his classes.

He just needs _real friends...real family._

_  
_

\- **Remy Reyes**

¤ Age: 17

¤ Junior Year

¤ Intro: Remy is Romans brother, twin brother in fact, but no one at school knows they are even related. He dyed his hair black, and wears sunglasses all the time to look different, not to mention the time spent on makeup. He knows what Roman goes through for him, and he hates it, but he knows Roman would never let him get hurt. He is also one of only two people that know Roman is gay. They stay away from eachother in school, but if anything ever happened to Roman, he would be the first person by his side.

His best friends are Virgil and Patton. He is well aware of his brothers crush on Virgil, he is also well aware of Virgils crush on Roman.

He just wants his brother to _let him help._

\- **Logan Smart**

¤ Age: 17

¤ Junior Year

¤ Intro: Logan is, surprisingly, Romans best, and only true, friend. He is the only person other than Remy that knows Roman is gay. Logan is gay himself. He also knows about Romans crush on Virgil. In fact, Logan himself has a crush on Virgils best friend Patton. Logan, nor Roman, have came out to the rest of the popular kids, they already know what would happen.

He does not know about all of the abuse, or his issues with self-harm and eating, but he does know that Roman is hiding something from him.

He is a nerd, but he is Romans childhood best friend and no one wanted to make Roman angry by not letting him sit at the popular table.

He just wants Roman to _stop keeping things from him._

_  
_

\- **Virgil Reid**

¤ Age: 17

¤ Junior Year

¤ Intro: Virgil lives with his two fathers, Evan and Xander, in a nice home, in the safer part of town. He is the schools resident emo, and is one of the only openly gay people at their school. He has anxiety, as well as frequent panic attacks and is a techie in theatre. He doesn't get bullied, per say, but he kind of just gets ignored, but he doesn't mind that. _(When he came out though, he was ridiculed for weeks by the jocks, getting teased and called names constantly, though luckily he was never physically attacked)_

He has a huge crush on Roman, and he doesn't believe the facadè that Roman puts up. He knows a fake smile all too well, and he is determined to find out whats wrong with the princely teen.

He is best friends with Remy, who he knows is hiding something, and Patton, who he knows has a massive crush on Romans best friend, Logan.

He just wants to know why Roman _fakes a smile._

_  
_

\- **Patton Hart**

¤ Age: 18

¤ Junior Year

¤ Intro: Patton is the oldest out of all of them, however he is still in Junior Year due to the fact that he had to repeat First Grade. He is friends with everyone in school because of his caring and friendly personality, the only people that he is not friends with are the popular kids.

Patton is also one of the few openly gay people at their school, though he did not get as much ridicule as Virgil did when he came out.

He has a crush on Logan, and despite only speaking to him a few times, he considers Roman a friend. His best friends are Remy and Virgil, who he hangs out with everyday when they are at school, sometimes after school too.

One well known thing about Patton is that _no one messes with his friends._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I apologise that Patton's info isn't as good as the others, I'm still practicing writing him. Also, I started the outline for this AU before DWIT came out, so Remus will not be in this.
> 
> Hopefully the first chapter will be out soon, but until then, enjoy all of this character info!
> 
> {This fic is also on my Wattpad, my username is ofdawnanddreams}


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Swearing, abusive parents, violence, crying, talk of injuries, physical abuse, talk of an alcoholic parent, drunk behaviour, self depreciating thoughts.
> 
> (This chapter doesn't go into alot of detail regarding the abuse, but it could still be upsetting if something like that is a trigger for you, so please be careful and don't ignore the warnings.)

If you were to ask Roman how he was feeling right now, the short answer would be somewhere along the lines of 'I feel like shit, thanks for asking'. The long answer, well...

It had all started the previous night when he had been making dinner for himself and his brother, he hadn't bothered making any for their mother because she hadn't been home, and Roman knew that when she went out to drink she usually didn't come back until the next day. It turns out that that hadn't been the case this time.

____________

The moment Roman heard the front door slam open, he knew that he was in trouble and that was only confirmed by the stumbling footsteps that he heard heading towards the kitchen, where he was cooking.

Roman was nervous, it had been quite a while since their mother had actually been home whilst she was very very drunk, a few months at least, and he clearly remembered what had happened that day. Remy had gotten hurt that time, badly, because Roman wasn't able to jump in front of him fast enough. From that day on, he worked twice as hard to make sure Remy didn't get hurt, which was the reason why he was so nervous now. He was glad that Remy was upstairs in their shared bedroom though, it meant that so long as Remy just stayed upstairs, only Roman would get hurt.

That was exactly what happened. Fifteen minutes later, Roman was lying on the kitchen floor after taking a beating from their mother, all because he didn't make any dinner for her, the fact that she was so drunk she could barely walk properly certainly didn't help either. Roman was used to it though, he had gotten used to it a long time ago.

He sat up slowly, their mother having gone and probably passed out in the living room, before starting to check himself over for any injuries, a few tears slipping from his eyes. Whilst he was doing that, Remy had came down the stairs and sat down next to him, not saying a word. "Only a few scratches and bruises this time, nothing too bad. No broken bones this time either." Roman spoke once he had finished checking himself over, breaking the silence between them. His words were slightly breathy because he was kicked multiple times, a few dark bruises were visible, and he looked like a mess, but he was okay, it definitely could've been alot worse. It was honestly a miracle that none of Romans bones had been broken this time, as he was starting to get weaker and his bad eating habits were taking a serious toll on his health, both mental and physical. 

"I'm glad you're okay, Ro. I wish we didn't have to go through all of this, I hate seeing you hurt like this." Remy murmured quietly, his usual sassy tone being replaced by one that was much more soft and vulnerable.

"I know Rem, I wish that too, I'm just glad that you didn't get hurt." Roman replied gently, his own voice also being very soft and vulnerable.

They lapsed into silence again after that, and after a while Roman moved so that he could hug Remy, and after a while he ended up falling asleep in his brothers arms. Remy carried him up to bed, cleaned up his injuries, and tidied the kitchen, before going to sleep himself.

When Roman woke up, his entire body was in pain just like it usually was after one of their mothers beatings. He looked over to his bedside table, noticing two painkillers and a glass of water that had been put there by Remy, he also noticed that he had woken up late, it was 7:30am, he usually woke up at 6am. He sat up and took the painkillers, before getting up starting to quickly get dressed and ready for school.

Remy had already left, like usual, and their mother was still passed out in the living room, so he was basically alone in the house. Despite that though, there were thousands of thoughts running through his head, things he needed to remember, things that he needed to do when he got home so their mother didn't get mad, and things that he'd really rather not think, such as the thought that he is useless, that he is a failure, that he will never be able to keep Remy safe. That last one made Roman particularly upset.

By the time he was leaving for school at 8am, he already had a pounding headache that was sure to only get worse throughout the day.

_____________

That lead him to where he was now, sitting at the back of a boring math class with a splitting headache, that he was pretty sure was a migraine, listening to the teacher drone on about some complicated mathematical equation. It was safe to say that Roman wasn't paying attention at all, luckily the teacher didn’t seem to notice, though because Roman literally had the worst luck in the world, Logan noticed.

Of course Logan noticed that Roman was acting off, he's his best friend and they have every class together except one, so it isn't actually that surprising that he noticed Romans odd behaviour.

Once the class had ended, they both were walking down the hallway making their way towards their next class, History. "Are you feeling alright Roman? You have been very quiet all day today, and you seem to be avoiding Aubrey and the other jocks." Logan said matter-of-factly, though his voice also held quite a bit of concern. He, of course, knew that Roman was gay, and he also knew that the other jocks weren't Romans real friends, as hard as it is to believe, the only real friend other than Remy that Roman had, was Logan. He knew that Roman had been trying to think of ways to tell his girlfriend he was gay without coming out to the entire school, and he knew that that had really been stressing him out, so maybe that was the reason why he was avoiding Aubrey and the jocks. Logan wasn't so sure about that though, it seemed like it was something different that was bothering Roman.

Ah yes, Aubrey, Romans _absolutely amazing_ girlfriend. Honestly, she's the _best_. Can you see the sarcasm? Yeah, in reality, Aubrey is a total bitch who thinks she's better than everyone else, she walks around the school like she owns the place, and she rubs the fact that she's rich in other peoples' faces. Roman hates her, genuinely hates her, and he's pretty sure that she hates him too. The only reason why they started dating was because Aubrey wanted to date the most popular guy in school, and Roman wanted to throw off anyone who thought he was gay by getting a girlfriend. Now though, he didn’t care about that, he couldn't wait to break up with her.

Roman sighed at Logans words, wracking his brain to try to come up with an excuse for his strange behaviour. "Yeah, I'm fine Lo. I'm just a little stressed about the whole Aubrey situation, and I'm almost failing math, but that's all. I promise you there's nothing wrong, Specs." He answered, voice filled with fake confidence. Technically, what he just said wasn't a lie, because he was very close to failing math, and he was genuinely stressed about the situation with Aubrey, that just wasn't the only thing that was wrong with him, it's not like Roman was going to tell Logan that though. They may be best friends, but there are somethings that even best friends don't talk about with each other, it's not just Logan he doesn't want to find out though, he doesn't want anyone to find out.

"If you are certain you're alright then Roman, that's good. Just know that I am here if you ever need to talk about anything." Logan stated, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, his voice firm and calming like always. It was obvious that he didn't believe Roman, or at least he suspected that there was also something else bothering him. Despite that, Logan didn’t pry, as he knew that it would probably just make the situation worse.

"I'm sure that I'm fine, Lo. Thanks though, I always know I can talk to you." Roman replied, the same fake confidence filling his voice, now joined by a sickly sweet fake smile.

Roman was thankful that Logan didn’t ask any more questions after that, his headache was getting even worse just thinking about what was bothering him, so he was glad he didn't have to think about it more than he already was. Wordlessly, the two made their way into their History classroom, before sitting down in their seats and waiting for the lesson to begin.

Roman wasn't sure that this day could get much worse.

_Oh how wrong he was._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this is the first chapter, I wrote this in about 2 hours, and I actually really like how it turned out! Let me know what you think of it! Also, please let me know if I need to add any more trigger warnings, I really don't want anyone to be uncomfortable by reading this fic.
> 
> Oh, and for the next few chapters Roman is wearing skinny grey jeans, a short sleeved red t-shirt, black converse, and a red and gold letterman jacket.


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Implied abuse, crying, Roman is sad and frustrated.
> 
> (I can't think of any other ones so let me know if there is anymore!)

Virgil Reid had always noticed Roman be it in a school production, in class, or just walking in the halls. Honestly, he was madly in love with Roman, but he knew that Roman was straight; or so he thought.

Even if Roman wasn't straight, Virgil was sure that he either didn't know that Virgil existed, or he thought that Virgil was extremely weird and avoided him as much as he could. He was 'shy' at school and he was basically an outcast, he wore dark clothes and dark makeup, though the main reason why he wore makeup was to hide the fact that he rarely got a good nights sleep.

Luckily he was never bullied directly to his face, well, until he accidentally came out as gay that is. He got ridiculed for weeks after that incident, getting teased and called names though luckily he was never physically attacked and after a few weeks it eventually calmed down.

He had one friend named Patton Hart, he and Patton had become best friends over the past few years and it was no secret to Patton that Virgil had a crush on Roman, nor was it any secret that Patton was mad for Logan Smart, the schools biggest nerd and surprisingly Romans best friend.

* * *

It was only lunch time and Roman already wanted to go home. On top of his headache and his bruises from the previous night, his History teacher had decided that he would single Roman out in class because he 'wasn't paying attention'. He was trying his best to pay attention but because of the factors already mentioned, he couldn't no matter how hard he tried causing him to get every single question wrong.

He was done. He was 100% completely and utterly _done_.

He couldn't deal with his emotions anymore, he was tired of pretending to be somebody that he's not. He just wanted to be himself, was that really too much to ask for? Apparently _yes, it was_.

He was lost and he didn't know what to do, so he was going to go to one of the only two people he trusted for help; Logan.

He entered the cafeteria and walked over to the table where he and Logan usually sat, the popular table. He sat down next to Logan, as far away from the other jocks and cheerleaders as possible, and Logan didn't even need to say a word before Roman started to rant about what was wrong. He didn't tell Logan everything, he didn't talk about his home life, but he told him the basics of everything else that was going on.

"I just don't know what to do, Lo." Roman mumbled quietly, his voice shaking as he finished his rant.

"It seems to me that the biggest thing on your mind is the fact that you want to break up with your girlfriend without her, and by extension the rest of the school, finding out that you are gay. Am I correct?" Logan questioned, keeping his voice down so that only Roman could hear him.

Roman simply nodded in response, tears building up in his eyes.

"Well then that will be...quite difficult, but I'll help you figure out how you could do it." Logan said in thought. He already knew that Roman was gay, he was gay too, and they had agreed to never talk about it especially not in school. Luckily they were sitting a few seats away from everyone else at their table and they had also been speaking pretty quietly, not to mention the fact that not all of the jocks had arrived in the cafeteria yet, so no one had heard their conversation.

* * *

After about ten minutes of Logan attempting to give Roman advice and ideas on how he could break up with his girlfriend, Roman was even more upset and frustrated than he had been before he spoke to Logan.

The more frustrated Roman got with their conversation, the louder his voice was getting, and just as the rest of the jocks entered the cafeteria and Roman was about to leave, Roman snapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know that the conversation that Logan and Roman have seems pretty short, but if i wrote it out in full it would just be boring, and it would just be repeating things that are already known so I just wrote it like this. I also know that the info about Virgil at the start of this chapter seems unnecessary, but it's not!
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter!
> 
> Also, new chapter coming very soon!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Swearing, physical bullying, sensored slur word, description of injuries, panic attack, homophobia, Roman needs a really big hug, (I think that's everything, but let me know if I need to add more).
> 
> It's all starting to kick off...

As Roman was about to stand up and leave the cafeteria, he spoke a little too loud, loud enough for everyone in that cafeteria to hear him.

"It isn't worth trying Logan, I'll just be stuck like this forever. I don't want to be with her Logan. You know I love someone else. You know I love _him_. So please, stop trying to enlighten me with ways I can tell my girlfriend I'm gay without the whole school knowing!" He exclaimed, an annoyed look on his face that melted away into fear almost instantly when he realized what he had done.

Logan was frozen, he knew how homophobic their group was, hence why neither him nor Roman ever came out. 

Roman looked at Logan as he realised what he had just done, then he looked at the other jocks that were at the table, he couldn't identify any emotions in their eyes, but they were staring at him and they definitely did not seem happy. 

Roman looked between Logan and the jocks one more time, before running out of the cafeteria as fast as he could, but the jocks had the same idea and the were right behind him.

* * *

They caught up to him rather quickly and pulled him into an unused closet so they would not be found. They proceed to yell slurs at him and then they started to get physical, and Roman knew that in this situation, he wouldn't win. There was no point in fighting back, but he did it anyway. He tried his best to fight back, but his efforts were in vain as the bullies held him down. He couldn't make out who was holding him down, he was too out of it at that point, ~~(probably because he was in the middle of a panic attack)~~ , but he could make out exactly who was beating him up...his now ex-girlfriends brother, Liam.

He was in deep shit and he knew it.

The bullies continued to beat up Roman until Liam lifted him up by his collar, "Watch your back from now on, _F*g_ " He whispered in Romans ear, before he kicked him in the stomach so hard he hit the floor again. 

The bullies left him there, unable to breathe properly, unable to move, and unable to talk. He just lay there, waiting for someone, _anyone_ , to hear his violent sobs and gasps for air. He hurt all over and truly felt like he was going to die.

* * *

Virgil had watched the whole situation unravel in the cafeteria. He had been just about to start eating his food and speak to Patton, only to be interrupted by Romans sudden outburst. Virgil was surprised, he hadn't ever thought that Roman was gay, but then his face dropped as soon as he saw Romans face. 

He looked _terrified_ , as if he was staring face to face with a dragon that was 10 times his size. He had never seen Roman that scared before. Before he knew it Roman bolted past him and Patton, with the jocks following dangerously close behind him. 

As soon as the jocks ran out of the cafeteria, Virgil ran over to Logan, who looked like he was about to run after Roman to make sure he was okay. 

"Okay, so I know that you probably have no idea who I am, but we need to go after him, he's in serious danger!" Virgil rushed out quickly, his voice filled with urgency. 

"I was just about to do that actually, you're welcome to come along if you'd like." Logan replied, his usual stoic attitude gone and replaced by worry.

"Well if you two are going, then I'm going too!" Patton said with a determined look an his face.

With that, the three set off to find Roman. They hoped that he was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Also, sorry for the short chapters, they'll be getting longer as the story progresses!


End file.
